Takoma Park man gets four years for mortgage fraud scheme

Mortgage scam defrauded $2.2 million from victims during four-year period

A Takoma Park man was sentenced Wednesday to more than four years in jail for his part in a mortgage scam that defrauded about $2.2 million from an undisclosed number of victims from 2004 to May 2008.

Earnest Lewis, 52, pleaded guilty last April to conspiracy to commit wire fraud for assisting three co-conspirators in a scheme that lured homeowners facing foreclosure to invest in a "lease/buy back" program. In the scheme, the victims' properties were signed over to Lewis under the pretense that his fraudulently represented good credit would help refinance their properties, according to a news release from the United States Attorney for the District of Maryland.

Lewis faced a maximum possible sentence of 20 years in jail but was ultimately sentenced to 54 months in jail once the facts of his specific case and actions were decided. Lewis also faces three years of supervised probation, said defense attorney Marc Gregory Hall. The sentencing took place in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland.

"The judge gave him a sentence within the guidelines … which were from 51 to 63 months," Hall said. "So [54 months] is very close to the bottom of the guidelines, and it certainly came as no surprise."

Hall would not comment on whether Lewis would appeal the sentence. Lewis has 10 days from the date of the sentencing to file an appeal, Hall said.

If Lewis does not appeal the sentence, he will serve most of it, said Stuart Goldberg, the first assistant state's attorney for the District of Maryland.

"In the federal system, defendants serve 85 percent of their sentences; the most good-time credit they can get is 15 percent … he'll be serving at least 85 percent of that sentence," Goldberg said.

Earnest Lewis's brother, Michael K. Lewis, 57, also of Takoma Park, was the chief conspirator and pleaded guilty to similar charges in April along with Winston Thomas, 43, of New Carrollton, and a fourth conspirator, Cheryl Brooke, 52, of Upper Marlboro, the release said.

Judge Deborah K. Chasanow has not yet decided how much restitution will be paid to victims from the defendants, Goldberg said. But Goldberg did point out that Michael K. Lewis had previously agreed to forfeit more than $2.2 million in proceeds reaped from the criminal activity.

Michael Lewis will be sentenced Sept. 3, while Brooke and Thomas will be sentenced Sept. 11 and 21, respectively.